A Forget Me Knot
by Lily Took
Summary: Lily has been in love with Aragorn for a long time. Now that Kulina has left, can she give up her one chance to be with him? Mention of alcohol, mild sexual innuendo A result of a minor event in an elf hunt. Updated
1. The day after the party

Author's note: I do not own the rights to Aragorn or Boromir. They reside solely with the Tolkien estate, and I appologize to the Professor for so attrociously using his characters.  
The elf hunt started as yet another way to express ladies' drooling desire for hot elves. Some manly-men fanciers joined up and hunted Aragorn, Bormir, and various other men.  
The elf huntress motto is "It's all about the sharing."   
Kulina and Aragorn have been exclusive since they first met. Lily has long wanted to share Aragorn, but has kept her depth of feelings for him to herself and hunted other men.  
  
The huntresses now have taken up residence in a castle, somewhere not too far from everywhere in Middle Earth.  
  
The events described here-in take place starting the morning after a large party. Unbeknownst to Lily, Kulina has left the night before telling Aragorn to stay behind and take care of the huntresses, especially Lily.  
  
I'd greatly appreciate any feedback.  
  
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I woke up with a monstrous headache. Again. The rhythmic thumping of Boromir's snoring wasn't helping matters any.  
  
Groaning softly, I disentangled myself from the layers of sheets wrapped around me, and clambered off the end of the bed.  
  
I headed for the bathroom, and splashed my face with water.  
  
"No more champagne for you," I told my reflection. I glanced out the window, and decided to take a walk in the morning air to help clear my head.  
  
I tiptoed back into the room, changed into some capris and a shirt, and crept quietly out the door.  
  
  
Wandering around outside, I came upon a bench hidden behind a grove of beech trees. At the far end of the bench sits a figure, in utter dejection. As I cautiously approach, I hear a whispered "Lina..."  
  
"Aragorn?" At my soft call, he sits up suddenly, a hand wiping his eyes as he turns to face me.  
  
"Lily, I didn't expect to see you up so early this morning. How are you feeling?" He walks toward me, smiling. When he takes my hand and softly kisses my cheek, my first instinct is to check for another of Tanavar's pendants.  
  
"Aragorn, are you feeling well? Not that I don't appreciate the interest, but...Kulina will kill me if I try anything." I smile up at him in time to catch the pained look that shadows his eyes at the mention of Kulina's name. I get an inkling of what has happened. "Aragorn, you can tell me..."  
  
He turns to contemplate the still surface of the pond beside us.  
  
"Things change. People move on. All that matters is that I am here, now...with you." With these last words, he turns and kisses me.  
  
What little sense was left to me by the hangover disappears in a tiny cloud of smoke.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
Aragorn finally let me up for air. While I was trying to get my hair to lay back down, all the while trying to ignore Aragorn's kisses on my neck, we heard a group of people walking past the grove of trees. Grabbing my hand, Aragorn led me through the forest to the edge of a small lake.   
  
Grinning, he pulls me close for a kiss, then shoves me into the water. Yelling a protest as I hit the unusually cold water, I climb back out and shove him in. He keeps ahold of my hand and drags me in after.  
  
After experimenting with how long a couple could kiss under water, Aragorn and I climb out onto the sunny lawn that encircles the lake. He leans against a convenient tree, and I curl up against his side.  
  
We sit for a while in contentment, watching the wind make patterns on the lake.  
  
"Aragorn. I'm glad you stayed." I lean into him a little more.  
  
"I am too." His arms tighten around me in a soft embrace.  
  
"Really?" I tilt my head back to look up at him.  
  
"Really." He smiles, then leans down to claim my lips again. 


	2. Several days later

"Aragorn, what's troubling you?" I rest my head on his strong stomach and roll to the side to gaze up at his face.  
The last few days have been the happiest in my memory. The man I have loved since before I knew what love was had finally turned to me for companionship. My bliss seemed complete, but I had noticed a shadow in his eyes that rarely faded completely.  
  
His hand gently strokes my arm as he smiles down at me. "Nothing, dearheart. Nothing."  
  
Sighing, I shift to sit cross-legged beside my Ranger. With my right hand I stroke his cheek as the fingers of my left entwine with his. "You know, for a man who has spent a good portion of his life dissembling, you are a remarkably poor lier." He moves to sit up but I apply a gentle pressure to his chest. "No, let me explain to you. I would do anything in the world for you. I have opened myself to you as I have to no other. I know you almost as well as I know myself. Please. Won't you tell me what troubles you?"  
  
His eyes grow grey with worry, and my breath catches as I realize the pain this is causing him. "It's Lina, isn't it?"  
  
He sits abruptly and cuddles me against his chest, rocking ever so slightly back an forth. "I worry for her, Lily. She went into some trouble I do not understand, and forbade me to come with her. That is what hurt the most I think. The thought that she no longer needed or wanted me."   
  
I stroke his cheek as he speaks and feel the tension of he muscles along his jaw. "But she would not have me leave you alone, and now I fully understand why. You did well at hiding your feelings from me. I did not realize that you would give up all others for me. That is a rare gift to give a man." He smiled warmly down at me and kissed my forehead.   
  
"But there is a portion of me that wonders what has happened to Kulina. Time passes, and she may have gone in search of another. I would not blame her for it when she knew she left me with you. But something stirs in my heart that portends her facing perils. I would go to find her, but I will not leave you now that I have found the fullness of your love." He hugged me tightly to him once more, then sat me up facing him, his hands on my arms, his eyes staring intently into my own.  
  
"You see now why I have not spoken of it? I would spare you doubt of my truth in my feelings. For I have truly fallen in love with you, Lily." His hand moved to brush behind my ear the strands of hair that were always falling forward. As his skin grazed my own, my eyes closed and I leaned toward his hand, savoring the caress.  
  
"Aragorn, I would not keep you from your duty." Slowly I open my eyes. "If you fear for her, you must go seek her out. I will not hold you here." He leaned over and kissed me deeply, then rested his forehead against my cheek.  
  
"Lily, how can I choose between you?" With a hand, I raised his face and kissed him back, allowing the question to remain unanswered for the time.  
  
That night, as he slept, I lay beside him memorizing every line of his form. Softly I kissed his cheek, then rose and retrieved a marker from my bag. I got back under the blanket, for the night was chilly, and looked at the broad back spread before me.   
  
With tears in my eyes, I began my work. On a small spot on his shoulder, I drew a Forget Me knot. I knew he would never decide to go without me, and I could not bear to face Kulina as Aragorn's lover. So I began for us a new relationship. The mark would fade, and the memories return, but he would be able to dismiss them as his mind's idle fancies about his traveling companion.   
  
I finished the knot and kissed it gently, tears welling in my eyes. Softly, I climbed to my feet and collected my gear, doing my best to make it appear as though he had camped here alone. With one last longing look at his sleeping form, I moved off into the woods, finally allowing my tears to fall.  
  
When he awoke the next morning, Aragorn would wonder at his memory loss of the last few days, but he would still recall the feeling of unease that drew him to Kulina. I would be waiting to meet up with him, by chance, it must seem. He would know me only as the slightly clumsy girl who had set out to find the elf huntresses and longed for adventure. The girl who decided to aid him in his quest for him missing love.  
  
And I would spend the nights across the fire from him, feigning sleep, while the stars spun overhead as they did now. 


	3. The journey has begun

Though we have not been traveling long, the weather has grown steadily colder at night. I curl tightly in my blanket, trying desperately to ignore the sly suggestion in my mind to ask Aragorn to help me warm up. Across the fire from me he sits, his back to the flames, and softly sings. Despite the warrings of my hormones and heart, I drift into a gentle sleep, lulled by the smoothness of his voice.  
  
I am sitting on the bank of my favorite stream, my back propped up against the willow tree whose branches trail along the flowing water. From behind me, footsteps aproach. I smile, recognising the pattern of walk, and turn just as he leans down to kiss the top of my head. His lips instead find my own, and we freeze for a moment. Then he stands and smiles down at me. Grinning broadly, I pull him down beside me and nestle against his chest. The fingers of my right hand play with the ring on his left. We seem to sit in happy peace for an eternity.  
  
Then the wind picks up, carrying with it the sound of tramping iron-shod feet. We both jump up, weapons drawn in a matter of moments, but the orc host is upon us even as we rise. They sweep us apart, and I loose sight of him in the press of battle. "Aragorn!" I cry, panic stricken. An orc turns in the general mass and comes straight at me. I raise my sword and run him through with it, but his momentum carries me backward, and he falls on top of me, pinning me to the ground.  
  
"Wake up, Lily. Lily." I push back from the person crouching over me, his hands on my arms, shaking me. My eyes are wide in fear as I scuttle back a foot. I whip my head from side to side, realizing that instead of being in the midst of a battle, I am in the quiet clearing where Aragorn and I had set up camp. My darting eyes finally come back to rest on Aragorn's face. "Aragorn?" I say, with a voice that trembles and sounds small even in my own ears.  
  
"Shh Lily. It's alright. It was just a bad dream." He sits there, caring and concern written on his face. His eyes warm with sympathy. Torn between several courses of action that would undo my careful use of the Forget Me knot, I begin to tremble. He reaches out and cradles me against his chest, rocking back and forth in a way that should be soothing. Given the state of my emotions, it is anything but calming. My muscles continue to quiver, despite my ordering them to be still.   
  
"Are you cold?" Aragorn asks. I nod, grateful for an explanation of my actions that does not bring up my raging hormones. The next moment, however, I am wishing I had found another excuse. Aragorn pulls his blanket out of his pack and spreads both it and his own cloak across both our backs as he sits down next to me and puts his arm around me.  
  
The contact of his hand on my arm, skin on skin, nearly sends my pounding heart out my mouth. I swallow convulsively a few times and breathe deeply, trying to think of an example of how one of the PEFs would act. What would Val do? She'd hooch the Ranger, that's what. No help there. Esgal? No, even worse. ML? There we go. She'd curl up against him and go to sleep. Sigh.  
  
Mentally shaking my head, I lean over against his shoulder. The warmth of the fire before me and the Ranger beside me combine to lull me to sleep once more.  
  
I awake lying on my side. The fire infront of me has burned itself out, but the light of the rising sun has found a chink in the branches and is shining right in my eyes.  
  
Groaning softly, I roll over. And come face to face with Aragorn. My heart stops for a moment. His face is peaceful in repose. I have to stop myself from either reaching out to stroke his cheek or kiss him. Wishing with all my heart that things had turned out differently, I roll back over and stare at the waking day. His arm comes up around my waist, and he snuggles closer, murmuring in his sleep. I wish fervently that I knew who he was dreaming of. 


End file.
